Beardsley, John. Earthworks and Beyond. 1st ed. New York: Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S., 1984. Print.
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earthworks artists enter the landscape itself and "use its materials and work with its salient features"
art is in landscape
first earthworks artists = Michael Heizer, Robert Smithson, Walter De Maria, and Robert Morris
art is directly connected to its site, scultures form relationship with their setting, unclear boundary between art and setting
"These are not discrete objects, intended for isolated appraisal, but fully engaged elements of their retrospective environments, intended to provide an inimitable experience of a certain place for both the artist and the viewer" (7).
other art in the landscape, directly related to their setting = poetry gardens, artist-designed parks, architectural structures, and sculptures in concrete and steel
landscape art used to improve public spaces
Americans are torn between need to exploit the environment with man-made tools and unnatural sctructures, and the need to save the little bits of nature that are left, for its beauty and spiritual aspects
when earthworks began in late 1960s, it was extreme in rejecting civilization (Thorough-like) but some of this art has developed to address urban problems (ex. urban parks)
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Michael Heizer (b. 1944)
"Art had to be radical...It had to become American." -Heizer
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